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Pretend to be making something until you actually make something.

Austin Kleon

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Austin Kleon
Age: 41
Born: 1983
Born: June 16
Author
Musician
Visual Artist
Writer
Ohio
United States
Pretend
Actually
Making
Something
Make

More quotes by Austin Kleon

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The people who get what they’re after are very often the ones who just stick around long enough.
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You’re only going to be as good as the stuff you surround yourself with.
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The artist is a collector. Not a hoarder, mind you, there's a difference: Hoarders collect indiscriminately, artists collect selectively. They only collect things that they really love.
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Not everybody will get it. People will misinterpret you and what you do. They might even call you names. So get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignored -- the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care.
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Obituaries are like near-death experiences for cowards.
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Usually, when we talk about creativity, it's about self-expression, which is great, but for work to be art or design, there has to be someone on the other end. The audience makes the work come alive.
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Every artist gets asked the question, 'Where do you get your ideas?' The honest artist answers, 'I steal them.'
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You're ready. Start making stuff.
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The minute you learn something, turn around and teach it to others.
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So go on, get angry. But keep your mouth shut and go do your work.
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Creative people need time to just sit around and do nothing.
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Marriage is two people in love standing in the same bathroom
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You'll either find the answer or you'll come up with a better question.
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Enjoy your obscurity while it lasts.
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Copying is about reverse-engineering.
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It's in the act of making things that we figure out who we are.
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If we're free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running from it.
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Amateurs know that contributing something is better than contributing nothing.
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Unless you are actually a ninja, a guru, or a rock star, don't ever use any of those terms in your bio. Ever.
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There’s an economic theory out there that if you take the incomes of your five closest friends and average them, the resulting number will be pretty close to your own income. I think the same thing is true of idea incomes. You’re only going to be as good as the stuff you surround yourself with.
Austin Kleon